A pastor was shot dead inside a Texas church. The suspect was arrested by the police according to reports.
A suspect in a killing that claimed the life of a pastor and left two others injured has just been arrested by the police officers. The authorities successfully apprehended the suspect who killed a church leader inside a Texas church on Jan. 3.
The suspect Mytrez Deunte Woolen, 21, allegedly entered the Starrville Methodist Church through a broken window on Saturday night. The suspect broke in to escape the cold weather on the night of Jan. 2 after fleeing from police apprehension.
At around 9 a.m. the following morning, Pastor Mark Allen McWilliams, 62, or his wife opened the bathroom door and found the suspect hiding inside, CNN reported. Holding his handgun and drawing it towards the suspect, McWilliams commanded Woolen to lie on the floor.
However, when the pastor got distracted, the suspect took the gun from his hand "lunged at him" and shot him dead. The suspect also shot an armed church member who did not manage to fire back and got hit while trying to get away from Woolen.
Sheriff Larry Smith, the Texas County sheriff, later confirmed that the church member is currently recovering after suffering from non-life-threatening injuries.
During the assault, reports say that the suspect tried to shoot the pastor's wife as well. However, McWilliam's wife managed to escape from the gunfire yet acquired a shoulder injury upon fleeing the assailant, the Daily Caller reported.
After the shooting incident, Woolen escaped the crime scene and tried to steal a 2018 GMC pick up from the church parking lot. Yet the suspect failed his attempt to run away with the vehicle as it was equipped with OnStar technology.
Officials commanded the OnStar to shut the GMC pickup's engine down leaving the suspect with no other way to escape police apprehension, KLTV reported. Woolen was arrested and immediately brought to Smith County Jail where he is currently detained.
Investigations revealed that before breaking in through the Starrville Methodist Church broken window, Woolen escaped from two earlier shooting incidents. At around 5:20 pm on Jan. 2, the suspect got involved in a drive-by shooting incident at one location in Marshall and another shooting event in another location.
He was later reportedly seen at the FM 849 and Interstate 20 area brandishing a shotgun through a dark-colored Volkswagen Jetta's sunroof. Lindale police officers went out to search for Woolen after receiving the report yet failed to find the suspect.
Police spotted Woolen at a convenience store at Chevron station near Lindale. He then took the cops to a high-rate speed chase of 100 mph.
The suspect allegedly went out through the I-20 on Highway 271 near Gladewater. He went through FM 757 that led him to Starrville community and unfortunately knocked off the road because the speed of chase wore his small spare tire out.
The impact caused Jetta's airbags to deploy making the suspect lose grip on his shotgun. Weaponless, Woolen managed to escape the cops in the cold of the night that made him decide to break into the church where he killed the pastor, according to the Daily Caller.
